On Friday 27 February, Big Think partner PwC hosted its second global webcast focused on the question, ‘What would you do if you were not afraid?’ The webcast was part of ‘Aspire to Lead: The PwC Women’s...

Designers of the new federal system for sending emergency alerts to our cell phones devoted at lot attention to setting up the technical aspects, but not enough to figuring out what the messages should say....

Drawing on the stories of such disparate figures as Steve Jobs, Estee Lauder, Ted Williams, and Charles Lindbergh, Kendall surmises that a type of obsessiveness which is borne of early childhood pain and isolation gives these people a kind of single-minded madness that allows them to succeed in almost superhuman ways. In his words, "pain causes obsessions which are a kind of fuel that takes [these great people] over the top."

He traces shared characteristics, from passions for lists and quantification to fraught personal and sex lives, which seem endemic in so many of the most visible super-achievers.

But, he is careful to warn, this is not necessarily something to envy or emulate. Many of these people are unhappy even in light of their fantastic success. He is also careful to warn that dark obsessions and painful childhood confusion aren't a necessary condition for success. If you had a happy childhood, don't fret.

Nonetheless, as the interview and the book demonstrate, to understand the history of the heights of power and achievement, we might have to concede the to be great, you often have to be a little bit mad. Part of the takeaway is that, just as we should strive for the kind of drive which allows these people to be great, we should stagger our admiration with a healthy dose of pity.